With nonconference play in the rearview mirror, No. 22 Michigan is set to begin its Big Ten slate with a tough road trip to Nebraska to kick things off.
In preparation for the matchup between the Wolverines and Cornhuskers, Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule, offensive coordinator Dana Holgorson, defensive coordinator John Butler, running back Emmett Johnson and defensive lineman Cameron Lenhardt discussed what they expect to see from Michigan this weekend. Here’s what each had to say…
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HC Matt Rhule
First impressions of Michigan’s offense — “Defensively, we’re facing a team, I believe their rushing offense is ranked 15th. They have a quarterback who’s mobile and can run, so obviously that showed up in the first game and they’ll use tempo, they will use sugar huddle. Those are things that showed up in the first game that haven’t showed up in the last two, but we’ll have to be prepared for that.”
More on Michigan’s offense — “They still have the same core philosophies. They are 15th in rush offense and 25th in rush defense. They are going to have elite play up front on both sides of the ball. The quarterback brought the dynamic element of — he was their leading rusher in their last game, that hadn’t really happened the first two games, more of a pocket player. In this last game, get out and utilize his legs and his skillset, so that obviously adds another element to it. They’re based on the same core philosophies of they’re going to control the line of scrimmage and they’ve done that so far this year.”
On Michigan’s offensive line — “They’re an outstanding offensive line. They’re big. They’re powerful. They’re athletic. They run all the runs. Anytime your head coach is an offensive line coach, you probably put a lot of stock in that. This is an excellent top-25 football team. They’re 2-1 because they played another top-10 football team, and they had a battle. It’ll be an unbelievable challenge. It’ll be a great challenge.”
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On Michigan defensive coordinator Wink Martindale — “Wink’s elite. Pressure. He’s pressure. He’s one of my favorite coaches. When I was in the NFL, I had a lot of respect for him. He’s a tough guy. These guys are going to play unbelievably hard.
“What I just said: How do you stop a passing game? You can get pressure on the quarterback. He can do that multiple ways. Part of the pressure is also painting pictures for the quarterback and showing him different things. A lot of quarterbacks can come out and say, ‘Oh, it’s man. Here’s my man beater. Oh, it’s Cover Two. I should throw the ball here.’ It’s when the picture changes that’s hard for a lot of guys. They just throw the ball to the man beater, but it was Cover Three. That’s what we’re always working on with Dylan and TJ is seeing the picture. You have a pre-snap clue, but it has to be confirmed by a post-snap cue. Like, ‘Oh, I should go here with the ball,’ pre-snap. But then the picture changes and then I confirm it post-snap on whatever that cue is. The safety, the corner.
“Wink, like John, does a great job of showing you one picture. ‘Oh, here he comes.’ Then they bring the jack and the corner. They bring the five man pressure, they run to Cover Two. So Dylan will have to be prepared. Coaches will have to be prepared for all the different pictures you see and might see.”
OC Dana Holgorson
On facing Michigan’s defense — “There’s a lot of really good defense that’s played in this league. Michigan certainly set the standard for that for a long time. I’ve never competed against them; that excites me. They have a great coaching staff, great players, and a great tradition. It’s something that we understand as well. Just really excited for the opportunity. It’s toughness, physicality. It’s typically low-scoring games.”
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On what he expects from QB Dylan Raiola vs. Michigan — “I don’t know what to expect other than greatness. I know he’s looking forward to it. I know I am. I know Coach Rhule is. This is a big game because all of them are big. We know who the opponent is and it’s our job to know everything about them. What they’re doing defensively, who they are, what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, and what their plan of attack is. On Saturday, thinking we know what they’re going to do and having to adjust to what they are doing. That’s just part of our job.”
On Michigan interim head coach Biff Poggi — “I go way back with him. My son played for him for a while when he was at Saint Francis. He brings a lot of energy. He’s a good football coach. Kids play hard for him. That’s what I remember about it. I don’t know anything about what happened at Charlotte, but just from back when he was at Saint Francis. They had national teams and a lot of talent. I recruited from that school for a long time and took kids out of there as much as I possibly could because their talent was so good. They have some of those kids on Michigan’s team right now. He’s going to get those guys ready to play.”
DC John Butler
On Bryce Underwood — “Quarterbacks that move out of the pocket are a little bit of a concern, but we saw that in week one. We made our adjustments, both schematically and just philosophically. I think we’re going to be a little bit more prepared for that element of the game in terms of how we call the game and how we approach that player. Each player is different. The quarterback for Cinicinnati really had a history of being a runner. When you watch number 19, he is a pro-style, dropback quarterback with enough athleticism to get out of there. But, he wants to be a pro quarterback that’s going to sit in the pocket and throw the football and make reads. Similar players, but different in their own way.”
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On Michigan’s wide receivers — “They have a nice collection of guys whether it’s number one, number zero, or number four. Their tight ends, number 17, 44, they all present some problems for us on the inside and the outside. We’re stepping into Big Ten play, no disrespect to the previous teams we’ve played. The competition level is going to increase, we understand that. The challenges are going to increase, but our approach isn’t going to change. We feel like we have a strength in the secondary and ultimately at the end of the game on Saturday, our ability to match up with those players is going to have some type of impact on the outcome of the game.”
RB Emmett Johnson
On playing against Michigan’s defense — “I’m really excited. It’s going to be real fun. I’m really excited and I’m just glad that we got a home game too. That’s going to be great.”
DL Cameron Lenhardt
On having proper rush lanes vs. a mobile quarterback like Bryce Underwood — “That’s one thing we’ve been cleaning up a lot since Cincinnati. Having proper rush lanes and being able to counter out the level of the quarterback. We can’t have two B-gap rushers. That’s just some things we’ve been really attacking. We have this one drill that we’ve been pushing a lot this week.”
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Nebraska HC Matt Rhule, coordinators, players talk Michigan matchup
